Archive for Baby

I just received my Sili Squeeze for replacing those costly and non-ecofriendly food purée pouches that little owl loves. Ever sine she started showing an interest in the food pouches- they were not popular when she was doing purées AND we made our own baby food anyway- I have tried to find a more ecofriendly solution that we could make ourselves. I tried everything and ended up frustrated and wishing I could think of someway to create what The SiliCompany offers with SiliSqueeze!

When it arrived I was very excited to try it out so when we went to store for errands I excitedly gathered the things I needed and got a happy tingle in my stomach as it brought back memories of making puréed baby food for little owl when she was a baby. We got home with our ingredients, washed and simmered, and, while eaiting, I got out our Vitamix; a baby food making mama’s best friend! Little owl immediately said “noisy” and covered her ears with a concerned look and whimper. Now the Vitamix is noisy, after all it is a blender, but not bad compared to some. I offered her her headphones and she asked daddy for a cuddle and we were ready to go!

After making our yummy mixture, we poured it in the SiliSqueeze and the leftovers into her glass storage container and put it into the fridge- I gave her a taste and she couldn’t wait! I had to put it in the freezer to cool faster.

The regular nipple is as I feared, impossible to suck things from even as an adult. I tried biting, gumming, chewing, and sucking and with no avail, I got out the scissors. I started to cut the stopper on the inside to allow for a smoother suck. The silicompany is coming out with a nipple that has no flow restricting spill protection that will be ideal. My suggestion would be to keep that slower flow for infants starting purées but use a reusable stopper under the nipple like the Dr. Browns bottles. This may be the case for the newer nipple that they have coming out soon, but for now the scissor snip inside the nipple worked just fine and allows for little owl to have frustration free sipping. Now I am sure to keep the lid on and keep it upright. It is nice becaus eit does stand upright in the fridge.

Compared to food punches…
Pros:
-Ecofriendly
-You can make your own purée compared to food punches companies that choose
-Saves money rather buying endless expensive food punches
-Dishwasher safe
-New valve flow to choose from and grow with your child–I ordered one of these as well and it is MUCH easier for children to suck the purees through.
-Fun colors!

Cons:
-Must stay refrigerated after making purées Rather than taking it with you and using it whenever or throwing it in a diaper bag or purse. It would probably be a lunch box thing
-Requires you to go the extra step to cook and clean up
-Difficult nipple valve could cause some frustration–if older child get the SiliSqueeze with Eeze

Overall, this product is going to a new item in our household over commercially made food pouches. Being an ecofriendly family, conservation and reducing our impact on our environment is important to us as well the ability to create combinations of our own while saving money at the same time, therefore little owl will be sorting SiliSqueeze pouches from now on! I will probably be using the commercial pouches for travel or vacations longer than a day, but other than that, day trips and home will have little owl squeezing her snacks Sili!

We received the BumBoosa 100% Natural Diaper Ointment in the mail and the minute we got the ointment out of the package-my daughter was already excited! She wanted to open the jar and rub it on her skin like lotion. We talked about how this was to help her bottom when she had rash and she smiled. Whether or not she really knew exactly what that meant I am not sure, but when a rash comes we will be ready! It is rare when we get a rash because we cloth diaper, but when we do, we will try our BumBoosa!

After doing more research about Zinc and cloth diapers, I found that applying the diaper rash cream directly to her bottom without a liner to protect the diaper is not advised. That being said when redness cropped up, I simply used a disposable/flushable liner to keep the cream from getting onto the diaper and repelling moisture rather than absorbing. I put it on before bed and when she woke up in the morning she was a good as new! Like I said before, we very infrequently get rashes with cloth diapering, but this works for redness, rashes, and what appeared to be a bout of dry skin.

It smells delicious, very natural, and earthy. I can smell the lavender and tea tree oil but it is not to strong that I would fear it would burn or chafe her skin. I also really like the fact that the company uses renewable recourses and is planning its next batch to have calendula extract made completely from 100% wind power! Go Baby Bumboosa! They are the only wipes I ever used (as we use cloth wipes as well), but if we need to get wipes from traveling or the diaper bag they are what we use. My only challenge is that it isn’t on shelves of stores nearby. I would LOVE to see baby Bumboosa at grocery stores such as Whole Foods or the like. This would make it easier to get rather than ordering in bulk from the website and maying shipping. I even used the wipes on my daughter when she was a newborn as we hadn’t started cloth wipes at that time, and I wouldn’t have any other wipe touch my fragile and innocent daughter.

Anyway, the diaper cream is wonderful, natural, and smells great! It worked for us and my daughter even wants to smear it all over her body like lotion! We will never use any other wipes as BumBoosa will always be our #1 choice for renewable wipes. Thank you BumBoosa!

We recently received an EcoPiggy Pacifier for review from the Natural Pacifier Company. It was great! We have used the Neufsetten Natural Pacifier and now got to try the EcoPiggy. The first thing I noticed was that it in NOT bitter like the Neufsetten pacifier. I also preferred the end of the EcoPiggy as it was a U-shaped and easier to hold on to or attach to a pacifier clip rather than the pinched style of the other. It has the option of a rounded or orthopedic tip as well as different sizes for 0-6 months and 6+ months. The other difference I noticed that makes the EcoPiggy more desirable, in my opinion, is the fact that it doesn’t get SUPER sticky and dark. It also seems important that the guidelines of 6-8 weeks be followed for refreshing the pacifier, although a few weeks beyond that seems okay, but no more than that as they do get darker, sticky, and warn out.

All and all it is a relief to know that it is a natural material that little owl is sucking on several times a day. It is easy to keep track of, clean, and know that it is one solid piece so fuzzies, lint, dirt, and germs get caught in. Thank you EcoPiggy!

This table is BEST standing table of all time. It DOESN’T sing, play music, or light up! It allows the children to explore sounds like rattling, shaking, and dinging. It allows children to develop their on fine motor skills by having them put the rings onto the post or into the slot, spin the rattle wheel, turn the gears, and put pop beads into their corresponding holes or on the pegs- all while building strength and learning to stand! This has been the one toy that little owl and all of her other friends have played with as their have grown and still continue to revisit even though they are walking. The rings have varying rattle sounds when you shake them, different textures to mouth, and are brightly colored. This table is an overall favorite for our goal of having mostly battery-free toys and encourages imagination, stimulates the senses, and builds strength all while the children are having fun. It also foster relationships when children stand, learn and play together!

Bambino Land is a great place to go for eco-friendly blankets and clothing for baby! Their swaddling blankets are amazing as they get softer each time you wash them! Little owl uses her ‘Peace and Love’ blanket as her lovey (we call it a “Binkit” after ‘Dinosaur’s Binkit’ by Sandra Boynton) and it has been a stroller cover to shield her from the sun, a picnic blanket for her and her dolls, a comfort, a snuggle buddy, and best friend. Had she had it since a newborn, it would have also been a swaddle. These blankets also swaddle incredibly well. I find the blankets with the smaller designs to be the best since the larger images covered more area and therefore felt a bit more rough than the buttery soft small (or no print) blankets were just after one washing. The print size does not affect the blanket when being used as a swaddle however because the print side is out and the softest part is touching your baby. That being said, if used as a “Binkit” then I would go with the smaller print or the simple colors for that purpose.

Being an eco-friendly home childcare owner it is extremely important that we have products that are eco-friendly, organic, and support a good cause. I did find the prices to be a tad on the higher side, but they are using organic and eco-friendly materials as well as a percentage of their profits go to a home for abandoned children in Nepal to help them provide food, shelter, and good help for their care.

The best part of Bambino Land is Jessica, the owner and founder of the small business. I got the opportunity to speak with her regarding my order and she was BEYOND helpful and kind. Her service was outstanding and she was able to go above and beyond what I needed in order to provide my little owl with the back-up “binkit” she needed. I was able to speak with her using the website’s instant chat feature that connects you with someone immediately that you can chat with over the computer in the instant message box provided. I actually was able to speak with her late (about 11pm) using that very handy and convenient feature. In addition to different theme collections of blankets, once in awhile they offer a special where you can build your own lovie/swaddle collection by mixing and matching the soft Muslin blankets of your choosing to coordinate your and your little one’s personality.

I was also able to review the ‘Peace, Love, and Owls’ yoga outfit for little owl. She loved it! It washed up so very soft and fit her very comfortably. She was able to explore her space, unrestricted, in her comfy Yoga pants. they fit with wide-leg style bottle and a top that has double snaps above one shoulder to ease on and off and to accommodate a child with a larger sized head. My favorite part, by far, was the pants. I wanted a pair in my size. She looked so comfortable and they fit her length perfectly yet they had a lot of space to grow.

Overall I was very please with my experience with Bambino land with their promises of blankets getting softer as they wash and excellent customer service. I will proudly continue to support their mission of bring environmentally friendly materials to children while helping those in need in other countries as well.

BONUS ENTRIES!!!!
1) Refer a friend…if they leave a comment with who sent them you will get an extra entry into this giveaway…the more friends you refer (who leave comments with your name as the person who referred them) the more entries you get.

So a few days ago…or maybe a week ago…I typed up a lovely review of InchBug Labels, saved it as a draft and then wordpress crashed. My post was lost to cyberspace. I’d do my best to write a similar review but I was fond of my first one!

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A while back we received out trail pack of InchBug Labels. Mama Owl and I were excited to see them as we know first hand the two main benefits to labels: food allergies and childcare/school. InchBug makes many different kinds of labels, from long and skinny to picture labels, bag tags, orbit labels etc. They are very customizable as well. For those of you who have children in school and childcare settings you know that things don’t always come home, or the stuff that comes home may not be yours. InchBug solves that problem. Also labels are extremely helpful for those with food allergies. InchBug has food allergy specific labels as well. Personally I like the customizable labels and added Little Ladybug’s allergies to that. There are tons of cute patterns and designs for boys and girls alike.

The labels themselves have been awesome. Easy to put on, just peel and stick. They are not super forgiving if you mess up but if you get an air bubble like I did (I don’t recommend multitasking while applying the labels) just pop it with a needle and squish the air out. All of the labels have held up through washes by hand and the dishwasher, drops and even my air bubble incident. So far no peeling, or fading (although Little Ladybug has yet to leave them in the sun unattained for long periods of time). I would buy them again and recommend them to anyone in need of labels!